AUTHENTICATION
23 October 2014 - In cooperation with the Ritz-Carlton Tianjin, China, the Philippine Embassy in Beijing, the Office of Asia and Pacific Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts organized a weeklong Philippine Food Festival, which opened on October 15.
“The Ritz-Carlton in Tianjin is one of the most beautiful hotels in the country,” said a member of the business community in Tianjin. “We are all very pleased to have been invited.”
In her opening remarks, Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio described how a rich soil and warm sunshine go into the natural produce which defines the excellence of Philippine cuisine. Before she toasted the good health of the Chinese people, she said, “Food is our common language, and our love of food is universal. Some of us may come as strangers, but tonight, after our meal, we all leave as friends.”
Executive Chef Anthony Lanuza Abad, together with pastry chef Joseph Robert Tan and sous chef Mark Wilhelm Ragudos, were flown in to work with local Chinese chefs of the Ritz Carlton to train them in the preparation of various Filipino dishes and sauces.
In a true spirit of people-to-people exchange, pastry chef Joseph Robert Tan recounted how he stayed up until midnight learning how to make Chinese pastries from local Chinese chefs, while the Chinese chefs eagerly awaited to have the first taste of the Filipino viands prepared by the chefs.
Fresh mangoes were the highlight of the food festival. Besides serving them as fruit desserts, mangoes were also used as ingredients in several dishes and pastries.
The spread of this very Filipino table included kare kare, escabeche, sinigang na hipon, adobong manok at baboy, bagnet, tokwa’t baboy in Chinese dish, and other succulent dishes.
Pastries included maja blanca, leche flan, and others using fresh mangoes as a central ingredient.
Top grade fresh Philippine mangoes were flown in for the food festival, in cooperation with the Office of the Philippine Agricultural Counselor. END
OFFICE OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS 
